#11 Writing Is… Cheaper Than Therapy

On average, Americans pay anywhere from $75 – $300 per hour for therapy services. Meaning for an hour session per week once a week for a year, on the minimal, will be about $3900. And please don’t need any type of medication to go with your therapy. Those prices can reach up to $12,000 per year with or without insurance.

Who has this kind of money?

No wonder so many folks have mental health issues that go unchecked.

The reality of needing therapy is contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to fork over thousands of dollars just to resolve an issue. All you have to do is write.

I can feel your eyes bugged out in confusion and hear your disbelief, but let me give you an example.

Here’s a Little Story

In 2010, I was diagnosed with Type-2 Bipolar and prescribed Lithium which was supposed to “regulate” my system.

Therapy was cool. I would sit in session and talk to my heart’s desire. The only problem was, while these sessions made me feel good, they would be over before I could really get to any epiphanies. In these situations, I would be forced to leave and have subject matters on my mind with no resolution.

Now the medication…that was a COMPLETELY different story.

Lithium was the worst thing that “should” help “regulate” someone. I could never be too happy or too sad. Not being sad or angry was great, but not being able to be happy sucked eggs. And if you know me, you’re well aware that being uppity and happy-go-lucky is my thing. Most days I didn’t want to get out of bed because I felt blah.

What made the medication even worse was that they felt I needed a higher dosage for it to “work properly”. All I could say was, “Why would I want to add more of this stuff to my system?”

Eventually, I got tired of the medication and had fallen into denial with therapy. I figured that I would get myself together by myself.

The Conclusion

The fact of the matter was, I just really needed an outlet; someone to talk things out of my head. So, I started writing about things that I usually kept to myself. And wouldn’t you know it, writing worked!

Here’s the thing, I’m not saying don’t seek help if you truly need it. The last thing I would ever tell you to do is completely forego help.

All I’m saying is, don’t let the price of therapy keep you from helping yourself. Instead of bottling it all in and pretending that you’re fine, write it out. You can keep it all to yourself. Although you may fare better sharing your struggles with others.

We all go through stuff and may all need therapy but just remember therapists need therapy so there’s nothing they could tell you that you couldn’t find out yourself if you took a chance on yourself.